Blackberry 2012 Annual Report Download - page 87

The Company licenses certain software used in its products and operations from third parties, generally on a nonexclusive basis, and
the Company uses components from suppliers that are reliant on intellectual property used by such suppliers. The termination of any
of these licenses, or the failure of these licensors or suppliers to adequately maintain, protect or update their software or intellectual
property rights, could delay the Company’s ability to ship its products while the Company seeks to implement alternative technology
offered by other sources, could require significant unplanned investments on the Company’s part if the Company is forced to develop
alternative technology internally and could adversely affect the functionality of the Company’s products. In addition, alternative
technology may not be available on commercially reasonable terms from other sources. The Company has not entered into source
code escrow agreements with every software supplier or third party licensor. In the future, it may be necessary or desirable to obtain
other third-party technology licenses relating to one or more of the Company’s products or relating to current or future technologies to
enhance the Company’s product offerings. The Company may not be able to obtain licensing rights to the needed technology or
components on commercially reasonable terms, if at all.
Copyright levies in numerous countries for the sale of products may negatively impact the Company’s business.
The Company faces the possibility of copyright levies from collecting societies in European and other countries for the sale of
products such as BlackBerry smartphones and tablets that might be used for the private copying of copyright protected works. The
collecting societies argue that copyright levies should apply to such products because they include audio/video recording
functionality, such as an MP3 player or storage capability, despite the fact that such products are not primarily intended to act as a
recording device. If these levies are imposed, the Company’s financial results may be negatively impacted. Furthermore, the
Company may be required to pay copyright levies on products and services used by consumers to copy or stream copyrighted works.
Non-compliance with these legal requirements could result in fines, imprisonment of local executives, and sanctions on the import
and/or use of the Company’s products or services.
Risks Related to the Company’s Common Shares
The market price of the Company’s common shares is volatile.
The market price of the Company’s outstanding common shares has been and continues to be volatile due in part to highly volatile
markets generally, particularly for technology company shares. A variety of events, including, news announcements by the Company
or its competitors, trading volume, general market trends for technology companies and other factors, could result in wide fluctuations
in the market price for its common shares. The Company’s share price may also be affected by factors such as the performance of
other technology companies, increasing market share of such companies, announcements by or results of RIM’s competitors, results
of existing or potential litigation, updates to forward-looking financial guidance, announcements regarding new products and services
and market rumors.
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